> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://spyglass.org/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Paramount Aims to Lower the Lowest Bar on Movie Theaters - URL: https://spyglass.org/paramount-aims-to-lower-the-lowest-bar-on-movie-theaters/ - Published: 2026-08-09T20:05:29.000Z - Updated: 2026-08-20T20:48:17.000Z - Description: A contractual agreement around *quantity* of movies in theaters? What could possibly go wrong? - Author: M.G. Siegler - Tags: movie theaters, paramount, skydance, wbd, hollywood, entertainment, netflix 🔗 Paramount Will Put 30-Film Pledge in Writing to Theaters • Bloomberg You know the saying "less is more"? Well, someone needs to tell Paramount that the corollary to that is "more is less" because their strategy right now is "more is more" and it's fucking stupid. In fact, it might sink Hollywood. Or at least, the theatrical business: > Paramount Skydance has agreed to sign contracts with major theater chains guaranteeing that it will release 30 movies a year in cinemas if it acquires Warner Bros. Discovery according to people familiar with the matter. > > Paramount has offered three-year agreements to AMC Entertainment and Cineworld Group’s Regal Cinemas, the world’s two largest theater chains, requiring it to release the films exclusively in theaters for at least 45 days, according to the people, who asked to not be identified because the agreements are private. The films would also not be available to stream online for at least 90 days. On average over the past decade, it looks like Paramount has released about 10 movies a year. Warner Bros is closer to 12-14\. Fingers-and-toes math suggests to me this number combined doesn't add up to 30\. Yet somehow they're going to make it add up to 30. And the somehow isn't rocket science, it's a simple lowering of the bar to what should actually be released in theaters. Yes, those averages are somewhat skewed by the pandemic.[1](#one) But you could also argue that the pandemic forced a (over) correction on the industry because too many films were being released in theaters when you consider the world of streaming we were about to enter. That is to say, the market has changed, and it actually wasn't the pandemic that changed it. Like so many other facets of business, it simply accelerated trends that were already happening. The reality in 2026 is this: not every movie should have full-on theatrical distribution. In fact, most should not. It's not about "deserving" it from an artistic perspective, it's about it making sense from a business perspective. Does it make any sense to release a movie into wide theatrical distribution if it's going to flop? No. Not for the studio and not for the filmmaker. Would it be better to put that movie on a streaming service to [find an audience](https://spyglass.org/streaming-saves-christmas-and-a-stinker/)? For many movies, yes. And it's not black and white. Maybe you do a limited release for some movies. Maybe others only get a two-to-three week run before going to streaming. Maybe some go to streaming *first*, find that audience, then go to theaters (a la *K Pop Demon Hunters*). Maybe show finales do as well (a la *Stranger Things*). There are just so many options when you consider theaters as a piece of the pie, not the entire pie. But that's not what Paramount Skydance is proposing, of course. They're promising at least 30 movies in theaters for at least 45 days with at least 90 days before they hit streaming. That's just silly in 2026. And it's so stupid because it's the *exact opposite* of what [they should be doing](https://spyglass.org/four-weddings-and-a-funeral-for-fulham-picture-house/) at [the exact wrong time](https://spyglass.org/movie-theaters-in-trouble/) to be doing it. Yes, the box office is [booming](https://spyglass.org/spider-man-box-office-record/) right now, but it's also a ([predictable](https://spyglass.org/10-big-predictions-for-2026/)) pent-up fluke of major releases. Most years are not like this and newsflash: *most years going forward will not be like this*. And even this, relatively speaking, isn't *that* impressive. These are "record" numbers largely because of *inflation*, not because Hollywood has suddenly cracked some code. So Paramount promising to release 30 movies a year in theaters is just going to lead to... more movies that shouldn't be released in theaters getting released in theaters. And that's going to exacerbate the problems theaters have been facing over the past, I don't know, 50 years or so. I'm not going to say "shitty" movies because that's not really even the problem here. It's simply that increasingly, there are [types of movies](https://spyglass.org/big-tech-hollywood-releases/) that do well in theaters – yes, [big budget blockbusters](https://spyglass.org/movie-theaters-are-dying/), but also [not always](https://spyglass.org/fantastic-fall-at-the-box-office/), and also not [exclusively](https://spyglass.org/youtube-ai-hollywood-disruption/) – but there are also many types of movies, [even excellent movies](https://500ish.com/michael-clayton-in-the-age-of-netflix-b4857e003997?ref=spyglass.org), that simply don't work in theaters any longer. Sure, you can say [that sucks](https://500ish.com/once-upon-a-time-in-a-cinema-c5991e1b7fe3?ref=spyglass.org). But it's also reality. And so not just forcing them into theaters but *forcing them there for 45 days* is not just silly, it's stupid. It's going to lead not to better box office results but more empty theaters. Obviously. It's true that [Netflix had also committed to the 45 day window](https://spyglass.org/ted-sarandos-triples-down/) to try to [win](https://spyglass.org/netflix-warner-bros-paramount-deal/) Warner Bros. But the key here is *quantity*. You could certainly [make the case](https://spyglass.org/theatrical-windows-tech/) that the best movies *should* have such an exclusive window in theaters. But you cannot make the case that *more movies than ever should*. You just can't. Again, this is so fucking stupid. We all know why Paramount is doing it – to try to seal the deal! But it's so [obviously](https://spyglass.org/the-rip-of-hollywood/) going to backfire that it's almost farcical. Get ready for [*Dear Santa*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dear%5FSanta%5F%282024%5Ffilm%29?ref=spyglass.org) 2 and 3 and 4\. In theaters. For 45 days. Even if [no one](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/dear-santa-2024/?ref=spyglass.org) shows up to watch. --- **Update**: Rich Greenfield of LightShed Partners pinged me on [my tweet on the matter](https://x.com/mgsiegler/status/2086529502608248980?ref=spyglass.org) and points to [their report](https://lightshedtmt.com/2026/08/06/four-new-developments-in-the-paramount-wbd-merger-litigation-worth-paying-attention-to/?ref=spyglass.org) that actually, Paramount and Warner Bros, per the current theatrical scheduling, were already likely *above* releasing 30 movies next year. Meaning, of course, that David Ellison is making a promise that actually may be easy to keep, at least next year; it looks like sandbagging. That's interesting, but my only pushback – well, putting aside the notion that the overall company will have to cut costs when/if they actually merge to try to service the massive amount of debt being raised for the deal – there would be that Paramount is in the middle of ramping production post-Skydance deal while Warner is ramping post-killer box office returns last year (which, by the way, [they're not currently replicating this year](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/warner-bros-discovery-q2-earnings-supergirl-the-bride-bomb-1236665002/?ref=spyglass.org)). Which is to say, I suspect their 2027 slates could be a fluke too – in volume, not necessarily in success – and wouldn't expect 30+ movies to the "natural" slate going forward. (See: above.) But it now will be if they merge! Because it's in the contracts! What could go wrong? 👇 ****Previously, on** ***Spyglass** **...** [Hollywood’s Brand New Day?Predictably awesome box office results also require caveats galore…![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/af/ca/afcaa655-46e2-45b8-889a-2881de5cce69/content/images/icon/Spyglass-Rings-----Multi-43c674b9-42b1-424e-afc2-95b10bd77f7b.png)SpyglassM.G. Siegler![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/af/ca/afcaa655-46e2-45b8-889a-2881de5cce69/content/images/thumbnail/Spider-Man-Brand-New-Day-Destin-Daniel-Cretton-2026-Far-Out-Magazine-1-d3ac706b-b6b1-485a-9f25-76eacf4137f4.webp)](https://spyglass.org/spider-man-box-office-record/) [Netflix’s Hard 45With Ted Sarandos’ 45-day theatrical commit for movies, he’s aiming to win the box office, Hollywood, and the Warner Bros deal…![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/af/ca/afcaa655-46e2-45b8-889a-2881de5cce69/content/images/icon/Spyglass-Rings-----Multi-166e226d-3ee3-4e8c-87ee-804235d993e1.png)SpyglassM.G. Siegler![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/af/ca/afcaa655-46e2-45b8-889a-2881de5cce69/content/images/thumbnail/ChatGPT-Image-Jan-16--2026--03_36_53-PM-2-1929a2c6-682a-4a0c-a152-3a6392dccd12.png)](https://spyglass.org/ted-sarandos-triples-down/) [Fixing the Windows in a Broken HomeTheatrical windows are back in place. Hopefully more open this time…![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/af/ca/afcaa655-46e2-45b8-889a-2881de5cce69/content/images/icon/Spyglass-Rings-----Multi-8ac09e98-8639-4653-8e6d-61eae2b8fd29.png)SpyglassM.G. Siegler![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/af/ca/afcaa655-46e2-45b8-889a-2881de5cce69/content/images/thumbnail/DJDvny-VwAAN1mb-54e3aeab-c0b8-47ec-854f-2d9b55becf28.jpg)](https://spyglass.org/theatrical-windows-tech/) --- 1 Also by the notion of a true "wide" release versus the smaller releases they each do via other sub-brand studio imprints. [↩](#)